Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Research Articles

Deepening awareness of inequities: investigating an advocacy project in early childhood teacher education

ABSTRACT An important goal for early childhood teacher education is to prepare teachers who advocate for policies leading to greater equity for families, young children, and the early childhood profession. This study investigated the extent to which an early childhood policy and advocacy course with an embedded advocacy project increased undergraduate students’ knowledge about inequities in early childhood as well as their attitudes toward adopting an active role in advocating for equitable child and family policies. Qualitative analysis of written reflections revealed that the project increased students’ knowledge about equity issues at a surface level and, for some students, more deeply, especially relating to specific topics of project focus. A few students even described new insights for equity-minded leadership. Several students also became more aware of inequities beyond their own project and articulated a commitment to recognize and address inequities through advocacy. Implications for early childhood teacher preparation are discussed.

Sense of belonging among students preparing for early childhood-related careers

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for higher education institutions to take a holistic approach to early childhood teacher preparation, which includes fostering students’ social connections at the university. Using an online survey, this study examined perceptions of whether and how the pandemic disrupted sense of belonging (SoB) and career preparation among students with early-childhood related career interests. We further examined how students’ individual personal characteristics (personality, adult attachment) and involvement in student groups/clubs relate to multiple aspects of their SoB. Participants included a racially/ethnically diverse group of first- and non- first-generation undergraduate and graduate students (N = 79) at a public US university. In response to open-ended questions, students reported pandemic-related losses of connection to peers and of opportunities to gain hands-on experience with children, negatively impacting their SoB and career preparation. Key quantitative findings indicated that, beyond the effects of personal characteristics, participation in student groups was associated with a higher sense of peer support. Further, only involvement in early childhood-focused student groups was positively associated with students’ sense of mattering at college. These findings inform universities’ efforts to foster student engagement and connection, particularly by providing opportunities to engage with peers who share career interests.

Preservice Teachers’ Social Justice Teaching Beliefs and Attributions of Black Boys’ Classroom Behavior

ABSTRACT Research Findings: We examined whether early childhood preservice teachers’ emotional competence and commitment to social emotional learning moderated associations between their beliefs about social justice and self-reported tolerance for and conceptions of the negative costs of Black preschool boys’ challenging classroom behavior. The 164 participants were mostly White and female. Participants reported on their social justice teaching beliefs, emotional competence, and commitment to social emotional learning. Tolerance for Black boys’ challenging behavior and perceptions of the likely outcomes of behavior were assessed via hypothetical vignettes. Participants with teaching experience scored higher on emotional competence. Black boys were perceived as more likely to experience greater negative academic costs for challenging behavior. The association between social justice teaching beliefs and conceptions of Black boys’ challenging behavior as having high negative social costs was positive for preservice teachers high in emotional competence, but negative when emotional competence was low. The association between social justice teaching beliefs and conceptions of Black boys’ challenging behavior as having high negative social costs was also positive for participants low in the commitment to social emotional learning. Practice and Policy: Results are discussed in relation to early childhood teacher preparation for culturally responsive instructional and classroom management practices.

Willing and unable or willing and able? Insights from an evaluation of a mentoring training programme for early childhood teachers in Ireland

ABSTRACT Many early childhood teachers mentor pre-service teachers engaging in practicum within their settings. Given their significance in early childhood teacher preparation, mentors must be prepared for their mentoring role (Balduzzi and Lazzarri 2015). However, while early childhood teachers may be willing to mentor, they may be ill-equipped for this role. This paper draws upon participants’ responses to an evaluation of a mentoring training programme in Ireland. Findings indicate that participation in the programme resulted in greater knowledge and understanding of mentoring processes, approaches, skills, roles and responsibilities; increased confidence in participants’ ability to mentor; enhanced critical reflection; ability to share learning; improved professional practice, and willingness to embrace communities of practice. From a policy perspective, a mentoring policy concerning a continuum of early childhood teacher education, financial support and time in lieu is essential to enable mentors to fulfil their mentoring role in supporting the professional formation of pre-service teachers.

An infant-toddler field experience in resistance to settler colonialism in teacher preparation: perspectives and practices of teachers and teacher candidates

ABSTRACT The separation of young children from their families for most of their awake hours, and the specific segregation of children by discrete chronological age through classrooms and grade levels, is a relatively new phenomenon in the history of human society. Such settler colonial constructs continue to influence early learning design, policy and practice. We suggest that to prepare early childhood educators committed to bringing about just and sustainable futures, early childhood teacher preparation programs must begin to make visible and interrupt the notion of age segregation, support understandings of very young children as complete individuals and foster teacher preparation grounded in holistic, familial, and relational development. In considering how early childhood teacher preparation programs can prepare educators to serve children and families across their lifespan, we share perspectives of teacher candidates and recent graduates regarding how an infant/toddler practicum experience impacted and held relevance to their PK-3 teaching practice

Pushing Through: Developing Teacher Identity Under Times of Crisis

Field experiences during teacher preparation programs support teacher candidates in forming and reforming teacher identities through real-world teaching situations. Trying out teaching approaches with children, reflecting on practice, and collaborating with cooperating teachers support teacher candidates in building a teacher identity. However, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, public schools closed in many states, requiring that field placements either end or change significantly. This is a study of five teacher candidates in an early childhood teacher preparation program. These candidates’ field placement ended in March 2020, requiring that university faculty develop an alternative teaching placement. Using Bourdieusian theoretical concepts of habitus, field, and doxa, this study explores how the candidates perceived this change and how they were able to continue to reflect and build their teacher identities.

Who’s teaching the teachers? An exploration of early childhood teacher preparation program faculty’s cultural competence, work burnout, and teaching efficacy

ABSTRACT Over recent decades, the demographic composition of children in the United States has rapidly shifted, culturally and linguistically. Concomitantly, there has been an increased need for early childhood education (ECE) teacher preparation programs to develop a culturally competent ECE workforce who are equipped to provide equitable learning experiences for culturally and linguistically diverse children and families. Given increasing attention and calls from education researchers, policymakers, and other partners to develop a culturally competent ECE workforce, the current study sought to explore program faculty’s cultural competence, specifically their culturally and linguistically responsive (CLR) teaching practices, and its association with feelings of work burnout and perceived teaching efficacy – two factors likely to be influenced by such heightening demands and to impact pre-service teachers’ own teaching competencies. Using structural equation modeling, the current study examined survey responses from 117 program faculty measuring their cultural competence and its association with feelings of work burnout and teaching efficacy. Analyses indicated that, overall, program faculty with higher levels of cultural competence reported minimal feelings of work burnout and higher teaching efficacy, and vice versa. Findings from the current study provide important research and practice strategies for the field of ECE teacher preparation.

Finding Space for Infants and Toddlers in Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Programs

Finding Space for Infants and Toddlers in Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Programs

Leveraging Virtual Learning Environments to Strengthen Pre-Service Early Childhood Teacher Preparation: Program Pivots Due to COVID-19 Empowers Future Practice

This critical reflection illuminates the planning, delivery, and evaluation of the ‘pivots’ an early childhood teacher preparation program made in response to the shift to virtual learning necessitated by the lock down measures prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The challenge was to shift two undergraduate courses from in person to a virtual format, including an inperson internship to an entirely virtual experience while maintaining a high-quality program which meets the certification requirements and professional standards. The process of moving the courses and internship to a virtual setting gave us the unique opportunity to step back and reflect on the essential conceptual knowledge and understandings necessary for teacher candidates to meet professional standards leading to certification and to becoming competent and caring professionals. Results of our critical reflection include lessons learned by the two instructors and department chair on the effective leveraging of technology to meet the challenges posed by COVID-19 leading to modifications to our program post pandemic.

Resources for preparing early childhood teachers to assist children in disasters: reflections on current events

ABSTRACT This paper revisits the 2019 JECTE Theme Issue entitled “Preparing early childhood teachers to assist children who are caught in disasters” in light of current world events. Unfortunately, since the publication of that issue, our world has been experiencing another type of disaster, the COVID-19 pandemic, thus revisiting and connecting the 2019 Theme Issue with our 2021 Theme Issue seemed especially helpful. More specifically, this article highlights some additional resources for teacher educators in the areas of 1) preparing early childhood teachers to meet children’s needs in disasters, and 2) utilizing educational technology with children and families effectively amid the current pandemic. Additional implications for early childhood teacher preparation are also provided.

Engineering to understand: reflections on a learning and teaching partnership for preservice early grades teachers and preschoolers

ABSTRACT Even with increasing calls for both researchers and educators to attend to the “E” in STEM from within the larger field of STEM education, little is known about the practices that serve to support early educators’ pedagogy and related content knowledge of engineering design. Using multiple methods in a revelatory, embedded, single-case design, this research provides an explanatory account of preservice teachers (PTs) engagement during a structured field experience with preschoolers designed to foster their understanding of design-based engineering though collaborative learning and teaching experiences. Research Findings: Findings reveal that the PTs developed more robust understandings of design-based engineering and stronger self-efficacy beliefs related to their practice following participation in the learning and teaching collaborative project. PTs also voiced concerns over perceived challenges of integrating engineering instruction within the pedagogically and content restrictive environments of contemporary early childhood classrooms. Practice or Policy: Additionally, this research suggests that guided teaching and learning partnerships can support early childhood teacher preparation programs in developing preservice teachers’ understandings of the interrelationships between engineering and other aspects of the curriculum using emergent curricular approaches and interactional, play-based pedagogies.

Maintaining Professional Standards in Early Childhood Teacher Preparation: Evaluating Adaptations to Fieldwork-Based Experiences During COVID-19.

At institutions striving to maintain face-to-face field placements and instruction amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, circumstances changed daily in response to new developments at the university, local school districts, and personal circumstances. This mixed-methods study explored and evaluated the adaptations made to early childhood teacher preparation courses in an undergraduate program in order to provide relevant training through a variety of instructional modalities including face-to-face, virtual, hypothetical, and mixed reality. Focused on maintaining professional standards through adapted coursework designed to meet student learning outcomes, instructors reflected on multiple instructional modalities and analysis of demonstrable learning outcomes for students in a four-year bachelor’s degree program resulting in state teacher certification. Data were collected from students from three different cohorts (n = 26) through course assignments, reflections, and instructor- and self-assessments. Results highlight several areas where students found success in meeting professional standards in new ways including: knowledge of development, relevant and responsive curriculum, collaborative engagement, cultural and familial knowledge, inclusive and individualized design, and flexibility and adaptability. Students were prepared to teach in the following ways: designing curriculum, implementation, and reflective practice. Students felt unprepared to teach citing needing more practice and continued skills development. These findings highlight the need for flexibility in the face of the pandemic and underscore the importance of using the new knowledge and practices generated about student learning to reinvent early childhood teacher education programs when faced with post-pandemic realities.

Preparedness of early childhood teachers to teach financial literacy: evidence from the US

ABSTRACT This study investigates financial literacy among early childhood teachers in the US. A survey was used to measure the financial literacy among early childhood teachers in New Jersey, USA (N = 152). Financial literacy was found to be low among early childhood teachers (52% correct score) and only marginally higher than high school students. Eighty-one percent of the teachers self-assessed their knowledge of financial literacy as moderate to low. Over half of the teachers surveyed found teaching finance to be unenjoyable. Multiple regression analysis showed that the number of economics/finance courses taken was a strong (p < 0.01) predictor of financial literacy levels, suggesting that personal financial education could improve financial literacy among early childhood teachers and improve their confidence to teach financial literacy. Thus, our findings shed light on the preparedness of early childhood teachers to teach financial literacy and suggest the need for the inclusion of personal finance courses in early childhood teacher preparation curricula.

Preparation experiences of pre-service inclusive preschool teachers: a qualitative metasynthesis

ABSTRACT The early childhood workforce needs to be prepared to support children with disabilities within the inclusive preschool classroom. Early childhood personnel standards and requirements include competencies for supporting children with disabilities and their families. Teacher preparation programs should ensure that preservice teachers engage in coursework and placements that prepare them to teach in inclusive preschool classrooms. Existing qualitative studies exploring the inclusive preschool preparation experiences of preservice teachers provide insights into these experiences. Yet, a synthesis of these findings does not exist. Hence, a qualitative metasynthesis was conducted to provide insight to the field of early childhood teacher preparation in regards to preschool inclusion. Qualitative findings from 11 peer-reviewed studies were analyzed, synthesized, and interpreted to understand the experiences of preservice teachers and highlight what they learned from these experiences and the resulting impact on their dispositions and confidence in regard to inclusive preschool. Suggestions for early childhood preservice preparation programs and future research are discussed.

Early Childhood Education and Instructional Ecology: A Vygotskian Approach in Teaching Early Childhood Social Studies

This study guided by Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) theory explored the perception of pre-service teachers about the application of the ZPD in the classroom. Five participants, all junior students, were purposefully selected from a university in the southern region of the United States to participate in the study. Open-ended interview questions were designed from a review of the literature regarding the effectiveness of Vygotsky’s ZPD in the classroom. Axial coding was used to analyze the data for the final research report. A major finding from the study is that Vygotsky’s ZPD is recognized by Educator Preparatory Providers (EPPS) as a major instructional approach used to promote student achievement and that some pre-educator candidates perceive problems implementing this innovative form of teaching social studies in the early childhood classroom. Another significant finding from the study is that it extends our knowledge about the application of Vygotsky’s ZPD in the early childhood social studies classroom. Implications for early childhood teacher preparation and future research are considered in the paper. Keywords: cognitive development, early childhood education, instructional ecology, preservice teachers, zone of proximal development

Dimensions and Orientations of Pre-Service Early Childhood Teachers’ Conceptions of Teaching Science

The purpose of the study was to investigate prospective early childhood teachers’ conceptions of teaching science, and thus identify their strategies for enabling their future pre-K to 3rd grade students’ construction of science content. For the purpose of this study, we subscribed to the view of conceptions of teaching as having dimensions and orientations reflecting two different models of learning, active learning and passive learning respectively. One hundred prospective early childhood teachers’ drawings and narratives of teaching science in early childhood classrooms were thematically analyzed to identify their conceptions of teaching science. Forty-six participants conceptualized demonstrations and teacher explanations as instructional strategies and as sources of science content knowledge to transmit defined bodies of science content knowledge to their students (passive learning). Fifty-four participants conceptualized experiments as student-based active learning environments that permitted students to think, discover, collaborate and construct their own science content knowledge and/or co-construct science content knowledge with teachers (active learning). The findings of the study provide a framework for focusing on how prospective early childhood teachers conceptualize science instruction for children in pre-K to 3rd grade classrooms and their strategies for helping their future early childhood learners in constructing science content. The study also calls for early childhood teacher education curricula to incorporate frameworks for understanding the practice of teaching within coursework early on in the early childhood teacher preparation program to enable prospective teachers to reflect on and document their prior knowledge of science instruction.

Integration of Digital Technology into an Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Program in China

The rapid development of technologies has complicated its adoption and integration into early childhood teacher professional development in China. The government of China has developed policies and provided financial support to improve preschools’ ICT infrastructure. Whereas various studies have examined the digital technology development provided to preservice educators around the world, relatively little is known about technology professional supports for early childhood (EC) preservice teachers in China’s universities. In this research, we focus on a university in the central part of China as a case study to explore preservice teachers’ technology use and self-efficacy while engaged in their field-based student teaching experiences. We collected data through an online questionnaire from 55 participants. Despite preservice educators’ positive attitudes toward digital technologies, the results identified several issues that undermined EC preservice teachers’ self efficacy for technology use and limited their instructional practices integrating technology in the field. Nonetheless, with adequate supports, preservice teachers were more likely to develop high confidence in their practice, suggesting the importance of improving and upgrading the current teacher preparation program and opportunities for field-based implementation.

Exploring descriptions of mentoring as support in Swedish preschools

ABSTRACT This article contributes to knowledge about mentoring in preschool, which is important as research on mentoring of preschool teachers is limited. The study examines how in-service preschool teachers perceive their assignment as a mentor. The aim is to develop the understanding of mentoring as support among pre-school teacher mentors in Swedish preschools (children’s age 1–5). The data consists of 75 in-service preschool teachers’ self-reflective texts from a university mentoring course. A phenomenographic approach was adopted and three qualitatively different categories were identified. Mentoring as support was experienced as: mentoring as personal, professional and team support. Apart from the finding that the mentor’s role is complex, the preschool settings present other challenges and place different demands on the mentor because they comprise a team including preschool teachers, childcare attendants and parents, when compared to their counterparts in compulsory school settings. The paper has implications for how to reflect on and problematize concepts of mentoring, and it could also have an impact on mentoring in school, on mentoring education, and on induction programmes internationally. Mentor support for professional practices directed at team building should influence early childhood teacher preparation for pre-and in-service teachers.

Digital instructional practices to promote pedagogical content knowledge during COVID-19

ABSTRACT This report documents the adaptations made by three teacher educators in an early childhood teacher preparation programme in New York City when classes were transitioned to digital environments due to COVID-19. Through qualitative methods that included reflection, observation notes, and systematic discussion, four themes emerged of promising digital practices that model effective teaching and promote pedagogical content knowledge. These practices include the use of breakout groups, an interactive whiteboard, an interactive agenda, and community-building activities. The authors hope to support teacher educators globally by illustrating specific practices that facilitate student engagement and model pedagogical practices for pre-service teachers.

Elevating the profession in Latin America: early childhood teacher preparation standards in three countries

ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to describe the efforts of three Latin American countries (Chile, Colombia, and Dominican Republic) to develop their own early childhood teacher preparation standards. The authors explain the demographic and historical environmental conditions, the sociopolitical climate that gave impetus to the development of the standards, the existing teacher preparation systems, and their underlying processes and structures, the underlying beliefs implicit in the development of the standards, and the process of development of the early childhood teacher preparation standards. These countries vary in size, population, and history. As a result, they are in different stages of the process of full implementation of these standards. The article comparatively analyzes the facilitators for the development of the standards and the challenges which these countries encountered in their design and implementation.